Lord Bach: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Margaret Beckett) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am pleased to announce that the Government and the devolved administrations have today published the UK Climate Change Programme 2006, to update the programme that we introduced in 2000.
	The UK has one of the best records of any country in tackling greenhouse gas emissions, and we have already met our Kyoto target for 2010. The programme sets out the Government's commitments at international and domestic levels to meet the challenge of climate change. It also sets out our approach to strengthening the role that individuals can play. Progress in all three areas is regarded by the Government as essential.
	Our review over the past 18 months has evaluated how effective our existing policies have been and analysed a range of possible new policies to contribute towards our national climate change goals. We are introducing a range of policies to strengthen our domestic delivery. Among these are measures to support increased generation from renewable sources, encourage the installation of energy efficiency measures in households, provide more reliable consumer product information, support more sustainable transport choices, introduce higher standards for efficiency in buildings and finance energy efficiency measures for public sector organisations.
	Today we are also consulting on the draft of the UK's national allocation plan for the second phase of the EU emissions trading scheme. The scheme is a central element of the energy supply and business sectors' contribution to our policies to tackle climate change. It will be used to make a significant contribution to our national emissions reduction target.
	These policies are expected to reduce the UK's emissions of the basket of greenhouse gases to 23 to 25 per cent below base-year levels, around twice our commitment to reduce emissions under the Kyoto protocol. It is also expected to reduce the UK's carbon dioxide emissions to 15 to 18 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010. The review, and policies introduced already, could reduce carbon emissions by 7 to 12MtC by 2010. This would take the Government close to their domestic target of a 20 per cent reduction by 2010. The Government still believe that the UK can achieve this target. This is an ongoing process and the Government will in future report annually to Parliament on emissions, future plans and progress on the domestic climate change agenda. We believe we can reach the 20 per cent target with support from all sections of the economy and society, not least by the collective action of individuals.
	At international level, we will maintain our leadership role, and build on progress achieved through the G8 summit in Gleneagles, the European Union and the Montreal Climate Change Conference. Our aim is to secure agreement to the action and long-term goal needed to establish an effective future international regime to tackle climate change. As part of this, in partnership with the European Union, we will enhance our efforts to help India, China and other developing countries evolve as low-carbon economies.
	Copies of this document will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament and those of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly Government, and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Copies can also be found at Defra's website at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/pubs/ukccp/index.htm and in TSO offices.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: On 17 November 2005 I made a Statement about developments at Styal prison following the tragic series of deaths of six women there and further work planned relating to women offenders. I outlined in that Statement a great deal of work that is under way in respect of women who come into contact with the criminal justice system and, in particular, changes made at Styal and other women's prisons and the women's offending reduction programme (WORP), which is co-ordinating and implementing a comprehensive programme of work to address the complex range of factors that affect women's offending.
	I said that it was timely to take stock of the work being done and to look again at the measures in place to ensure that we are doing everything possible for the especially vulnerable group of women who come into contact with the criminal justice system. I undertook to make a further announcement when the scope of this review had been determined and I am now able to make that further announcement.
	I am pleased to announce that my noble friend Lady Jean Corston has agreed to undertake this review. Jean recently chaired the Joint Committee on Human Rights and instigated its valuable and comprehensive inquiry into deaths in custody in 2003.
	The review will be focused on those women in whom a multitude of risk factors coexist and which could lead them to harm themselves in prison. This could, for example, encompass women with serious mental illness or serious drug addictions; women with other mental health problems such as personality disorder, which can be exacerbated by prison and increase their vulnerability; and those women who are persistent low-level offenders, living chaotic lives. It will look at provision for such women at each occasion they come into contact with the criminal justice system—for example, at police stations, at court, on remand, on sentencing, during sentence in the community, in prison and on release.
	I stress that the review will complement rather than replicate the work under way and will seek to build on the vast amount of work and knowledge that already exist. For example, WORP aims to provide a more appropriate and joined-up response in the community to the particular factors that impact on women offenders. The Together Women Programme will trial an integrated approach to routing women to appropriate services to meet their needs at various stages of their offending history. The Baroness Corston's review will seek to build on this work, focusing on identified gaps in provision.
	Part of the review will profile the characteristics and histories of some of the women who have died in custody in recent years (particularly those at Styal) and look at the pathway through the criminal justice system that led them to that point. It is hoped that some of those families sadly bereaved by these deaths might be willing to share their experiences with the review and provide an insight into the events that led to custody. This element of the review could provide a strong contribution to learning lessons and may be of some small comfort to those bereaved families.
	The review will be assisted by a small advisory reference group, with some wider groups and themed seminars. The Baroness Corston is establishing her advisory group, which is likely to include, for example, the Prison Reform Trust, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Women in Prison, INQUEST and NIMHE. Senior officials from the Home Office women's offending reduction programme, the Prison Service women's group and the National Offender Management Service safer custody group will also sit on the reference group. A wider group of people and organisations, whose expertise will be vital to the review, will also be invited to contribute both directly and through meetings and seminars. Many other individuals and organisations with specialist knowledge are being identified and will also be invited to contribute to the review.
	I have asked the Baroness Corston for a progress report by the end of June 2006 and for her final report to reach me by 31 December 2006. The final report will be published.

Lord Triesman: I am today laying before Parliament Government White Paper Command 6762, Active Diplomacy for a Changing World: The UK's international priorities.
	In a world of global communications and markets, our security and prosperity depend more than ever on what happens in other parts of the world. Active Diplomacy for a Changing World: The UK's international priorities updates the FCO's 2003 White Paper, UK International Priorities: A Strategy for the FCO. It identifies the trends we expect to shape the world in the next 10 years, sets out the UK's role in the international system, and identifies the strategic international priorities for the Government as a whole.
	The world in the next 10 years
	Based on extensive consultation with partners around government and beyond, some of the trends and their implications for the UK outlined in the White Paper are as follows.
	The gathering pace of globalisation: the flow of people, goods, money and knowledge, and the rapid growth of Asia, present new opportunities and risks. We will need to adapt our economy, and work with others to support global economic openness. And we must also help to build effective states able to provide security, opportunity, justice and basic services for their citizens.
	Pressures on natural resources: economic demand, population growth and climate change are putting the world's natural resources under new pressure. We will need to manage increasing competition for energy in particular.
	An uncertain security environment: terrorism will remain the primary security threat to the UK. The fight to control the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons will be crucial over the next 10 years. There will be new risks to fragile states and uncertainty about developments in key parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
	The UK Government's response
	To meet these and other challenges, the British Government:
	must be engaged around the globe to shape developments at a time of rapid change;
	must strengthen their partnerships and international institutions to build a future based on common values and interests;
	and must secure closer co-operation across government and with others as the impact at home of events overseas continues to grow.
	The UK's International Priorities
	The 2003 White Paper introduced a set of strategic priorities to guide the Government's international policy. This new White Paper builds on these strategic priorities, and introduces some new ones.
	The provision of public services to UK citizens abroad has always been a core activity. The continuing importance of delivering high-quality consular support, against a backdrop of increasing demand, has led to our decision to introduce a new strategic priority to cover this activity.
	We have also introduced a new strategic priority on managing migration and combating illegal immigration. The pressures driving migration are significant. Managing our economic, social, security and development objectives will be an important task for government in the years ahead.
	On the basis of this assessment, the strategic international priorities for government identified in the White Paper are:
	making the world safer from global terrorism and weapons of mass destruction;
	reducing the harm to the UK from international crime, including drug trafficking, people smuggling and money laundering;
	preventing and resolving conflict through a strong international system;
	building an effective and globally competitive EU in a secure neighbourhood;
	supporting the UK economy and business through an open and expanding global economy, science and innovation and secure energy supplies;
	promoting sustainable development and poverty reduction underpinned by human rights, democracy, good governance and protection of the environment;
	managing migration and combating illegal immigration;
	delivering high-quality support for British nationals abroad, in normal times and in crises;
	and ensuring the security and good governance of the UK's Overseas Territories.
	The role of the FCO
	The White Paper also sets out how the FCO will continue to adapt to take forward the strategic priorities, working with others in government. The role of the FCO is to exercise judgment and influence in order to shape the future for the benefit of our citizens and others. We must be engaged on the ground with the knowledge, experience and skills to effect change.
	Our network of posts must continue to adapt to new opportunities and risks. We are moving resources to priorities in Asia and the Middle East; tackling issues such as conflict, energy security and economic and political reform in key regions; developing rapid deployment teams for crisis response; and using information and communications technology to help us work more flexibly and effectively.
	This White Paper and the strategic priorities will provide the framework for deploying our efforts as resources remain tight and demand for our services grows.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The following list sets out the key performance indicators* that have been set for Her Majesty's Land Registry for 2006–07.
	Customer Service
	Speed:
	Percentage of official copy and search applications processed within two working days: 98 per cent
	Percentage of all registrations processed within 18 working days: 80 per cent
	Accuracy:
	Percentage of registrations processed free of any error: 98.5 per cent
	Overall Satisfaction 1 :
	Percentage of customers who, overall, are very satisfied/satisfied with the full range of services provided by Land Registry: Better than 95 per cent
	Financial:
	Percentage return on average capital employed: 3.5 per cent
	Efficiency 2 :
	Cost per unit in cash terms 3 (real terms): £29.77 (£21.17)
	Critical Action Points
	Customer service: Introduce imagery-based access to land register online.
	Land registration: Add a further 700,000 hectares of land to the total areas of registered freehold land in England and Wales.
	Electronic service delivery. Introduce a prototype chain matrix service to provide transparency to residential conveyancing chains.
	Other Business Development: Establish a Land Registry portal as a first step in implementing a single integrated customer interface for all online Land Registry information and services.
	* More information on these and other key targets is published in the strategic and business plans.
	1 Result from quarterly satisfaction survey
	2 This is a final year target towards the H M Treasury-agreed cost per unit target for 2006–07 of £29.94 in cash terms (£21.17 in real terms). Target adjusted for revised pension costs.
	3 Based on the GDP deflator issued by H M Treasury on 23 December 2005 (base year 1992–93).
	 The real term unit cost in the base year of 1992–93 was £30.65.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The following list sets out the key performance targets that have been set for the Public Guardianship Office for 2006–07.
	KPI 1: To increase the satisfaction of its customers in the delivery of its services as measured by customer surveys throughout the year.
	Targets:
	to achieve an overall satisfaction rating of 75 per cent; and
	to reduce dissatisfaction among each of the PGO's different customer groups (lay, local authority and professional receivers, and EPA attorneys) by 10 per cent.
	KPI 2: To increase the proportion of effective visits by the Lord Chancellor's visitors.
	Targets:
	Effective visits:
	(a) To achieve 80 per cent effective visits over the year. An effective visit is one where: i. the visit is carried out within six months of the request being made; and
	ii. recommended action is initiated within one calendar month of the visit.
	Visits are made to clients according to the following criteria:
	New clients:
	(b) To visit all new clients within six months of the order appointing the receiver being sent and to initiate any necessary action arising from the visit within one calendar month.
	(c) To visit 10 per cent of clients within 12 to 18 months of a short order direction.
	Existing clients:
	(d) To undertake visits to existing clients as follows:
	i. 10 per cent of clients within 18 months of a case transfer direction;
	ii. annually where the chief executive of the PGO is the receiver;
	iii. a repeat visit after three years where the receiver is still in place;
	iv. a repeat visit when necessary based on recommendations made by a Lord Chancellor's visitor; and
	v. other visits as directed by the court of protection or requested by the PGO.
	In total, the PGO anticipates that these criteria will result in approximately 9,500 visits.
	KPI 3: To maintain an effective system to collect and review accounts, and use this process to review the case management regime to ensure that it is meeting the needs of each customer and client.
	Targets:
	To collect 60 per cent of accounts, in all cases where an account is properly due, within two calendar months of the accounting end date; 85 per cent within four calendar months of the accounting end date; and 95 per cent within six calendar months of the accounting end date.
	To complete the review of, or to have requested further information for, 10 per cent of accounts within 20 working days of receipt.
	To complete the review of 75 per cent of furthered-on accounts (that is, those where further information is needed) within 30 working days of the request for additional information.
	No case will have two accounts outstanding unless the Court of Protection has directed otherwise.
	KPI 4: To deliver an improved service to clients.
	Targets:
	Correspondence
	(a) To respond to 60 per cent of correspondence within five working days of receipt;
	80 per cent of correspondence within 10 working days of receipt; and 98 per cent of correspondence within 15 working days of receipt.
	Release of funds
	(b) To work with receivers to ensure they have access to funds to support the client for a year at a time. Where requests for release of funds are made over and above this, PGO will give directions to the Court Funds Office (CFO), or dispatch directions to the receiver within five working days in 80 per cent of cases and within 10 working days in 95 per cent of cases; or explain why it cannot release funds.
	Applications for Receivership
	(c) Providing it has all the appropriate forms and information required in support of an application, PGO will list a case for hearing and notify the applicant within 10 working days in 95 per cent of cases.
	(d) The hearing date will be within 35 working days of the date the hearing was listed in 95 per cent of cases.
	(e) After the hearing, PGO will notify applicants of the outcome of the hearing and request any further information the court requires within five working days in 95 per cent of cases.
	(f) PGO will issue orders within 10 working days in 95 per cent of cases where all information and documents have been received.
	Closing cases
	(g) Where a client dies and PGO has a complete application for final directions, PGO will prepare and dispatch directions to transfer assets to personal representatives within 15 working days in 80 per cent of cases and within 20 working days in 98 per cent of cases.
	Enduring Powers of Attorney
	(h) PGO will register and return 98 per cent of correctly lodged EPAs, where there are no objections, within five working days of the end of the statutory waiting period.
	Accuracy of Orders
	(i) PGO will ensure that in at least 98 per cent of cases, orders will not be returned because of errors.
	Case Transfer to Short Order Regime
	(j) In 85 per cent of cases identified for consideration for a short order regime, the case will be referred to the court of protection within 15 working days for a decision to be made.
	(k) Where the court directs a transfer, initiating action will be effected within 10 days of the decision in 95 per cent of cases.
	KPI 5: To demonstrate improvements in efficiency in value for money terms by meeting unit cost targets for undertaking each case in each of the main business streams as follows:
	Targets:
	Enduring Powers of Attorney: £114 per case;
	Appointing and Supervising Receivers: £580 per case.